Today's telecommunication networks are increasingly characterized by the separation of the control and data planes. That is, data plane connections used to transport traffic and their associated control plane connections used to manage the data plane connections are somewhat independent.
All network operators over time increase or decrease the sizes of their networks, or alter the configuration their networks. There are many business reasons for this, including mergers, divestitures or re-organizations of carriers and enterprises, or the addition of updated equipment. Network operators may want to make a variety of adjustments to their networks, including growing (e.g., adding nodes) and/or shrinking (e.g., removing nodes). Some of adjustments do not necessarily affect the data plane which actually carries the user traffic. However, these adjustments do affect the control plane and/or network management systems. Examples of such adjustments include splitting, merging and/or modifying the span of control of existing connections. In other words, modifying the span of control plane connections. These adjustments will be discussed in more detail below.
However there are some connections which have long durations, and it is highly desirable to avoid any disruption to services offered through these connections while making said adjustments.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method for adjusting the span of control of a network in a non-disruptive manner.